TO THE REVEREND

THE RURAL DEAN,

AND

CLERGY

OF THE DEANERY OF STONEHOUSE,

IN THE

DIOCESE OF GLOUCESTER,

This Discourse,

PUBLISHED AT THEIR DESIRE,

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

BY THEIR FAITHFUL SERVANT,

AND BROTHER,

W. F. POWELL.

i Corinthians, iv. 2.

Moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

In the course of the Episcopal Visitation which at present assembles us together, the duty has devolved upon many of my Reverend Brethren, of preparing the young for that solemn rite of the Christian Church which reduces them to a serious review, because it calls upon them for a personal confirmation of the baptismal vow.

Into the nature, or propriety of that primitive institution it is no part of our present object to enquire. These are topics which doubtless have engaged the attention of our order individually, and which, one should hope have not been kept back at so seasonable an opportunity from our respective congregations.

Neither is it our purpose to dwell upon the affecting impressions which the sacred service we have witnessed has been calculated to produce. But the allusion that has been made carries with it a bearing that may yet be instructive and useful to ourselves; and that is, a bearing of a practical nature as concerns the Clergy.

B

And to this practical consideration there is reason that we should invite one another: a reason grounded on the very situation in which we stand as pastors of the flock of Christ; as "messengers, watchmen, and stewards of the Lord, called to teach and to premonish, to feed and to provide for the Lord's family." "Men of like passions" with those among whom, and for whom we hold our commissiou, it is not to be imagined that we should be superior to the general infirmities of that nature whose fall we have to preach. But our danger and our temptation is, (and the danger and temptation are in proportion to the weight and dignity of our office,) that we may be very liable, in the employment of teaching, to forget that we ourselves have occasion to learn: that in fact while we" preach to others" there is quite a possibility in the case of every one of us, that he himself may be "a cast-away."

b

you

I do not affect to allege it as a charge, that or I are so magnified in our own esteem, or that we presume so much upon our office as to exalt ourselves above advice, or to think that we are exempt from the obligations which we have to press upon those "over whom we are in the Lord." I do not allege this as a charge against

a The Office for "Ordering of Priests."

b 1 Cor. ix. 27.- 1 Thess. v. 12.

any; but you will not accuse me of impropriety if, as one that is "the least" among you, I do gravely introduce something of the kind as a

caution.

Indeed it is a perilous post we occupy :-it hath been the custom to esteem us lightly, and sometimes to deny us the external consolations, and supports to which our weighty yoke, and our work might entitle us;-and we doubt not, this may, under God, have its advantage: because, invested with an authority that might overswell the natural man; and holding a commission that might, if carnally regarded, set us, in our own imagination, above those, whose "servants" after all "we are for Jesus' sake," these slights may tend providentially to humiliate, "lest we be exalted above measure ;" and may tell us that if we have any thing to "glory in" it is "in our infirmities."

But on account of those very infirmities, we apprehend the more peril in the post we occupy. It is human nature to be much more prompt at discerning evil in others, than in self; it is human nature to be much more officious in administering advice, than in seeking it; it is human nature, if one can find a subject apparently worse than one's self, to take shelter there, and derive

d 2 Cor. iv. 5.-e 2 Cor. xii. 7, 9.